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A Frog with Three Sex Chromosomes that Co-Mingle Together in Nature: Xenopus tropicalis Has a Degenerate W and a Y that Evolved from a Z Chromosome

Furman et al., PLOS Genetics. 2020.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33166278/

Genetic systems governing sexual differentiation vary among species. Furman et al. investigated a frog with three sex chromosomes, the Western clawed frog, Xenopus tropicalis. They demonstrate that natural populations from the western and eastern edges of Ghana have a young Y chromosome, and that a male-determining factor on this Y chromosome is in a similar genomic location as a previously known female-determining factor on the W chromosome. Their findings are consistent with theoretical expectations associated with recombination suppression on sex chromosomes and demonstrate that several characteristics of old and established sex chromosomes can arise well before they become cytogenetically distinguished. Supported by ORIP (P40OD010997) and NICHD.

Intra-Strain Genetic Variation of Platyfish (Xiphophorus maculatus) Strains Determines Tumorigenic Trajectory

Lu et al., Frontiers in Genetics . 2020.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.562594/full

Xiphophorus interspecies hybrids represent a valuable model system to study heritable tumorigenesis. Although the ancestors of the two X. maculatus parental lines, Jp163 A and Jp163 B, were siblings produced by the same mother, backcross interspecies hybrid progeny between X. hellerii and X. maculatus Jp163 A develop spontaneous melanoma initiating at the dorsal fin due to a regulator encoded by the X. maculatus genome; the backcross hybrid progeny with X. hellerii or X. couchianus and Jp163 B exhibit melanoma on their flanks. Comparative genomic analyses revealed genetic differences are associated with pathways highlighting fundamental cellular functions. Disruption of these baselines may give rise to spontaneous or inducible tumorigenesis. Supported by ORIP (R24OD011120), NCI, and NIGMS.